Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Of all the disgraceful acts committed by St. Louis area cops after the murder of Michael Brown, one of the most reprehensible was the arrest of 90-year-old Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein. Hedy was peacefully protesting Darren Wilson's senseless slaughter of Brown when suddenly, for no apparent reason, she was handcuffed by police. Did the cops really think that an unarmed 90-year-old woman presented a threat to them? Did they suspect her of domestic terrorism? What exactly were the cops thinking? Hedy says they never told her why she was arrested.

The incident evoked powerfully painful memories for Hedy. Born and raised in Germany, she recalls the Nazi reign of terror in the 1930s directed at Jewish families like hers. Her father was arrested on Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, when SS officers and Nazi sympathizers rampaged through the streets, ransacking and demolishing Jewish homes and businesses on November 9, 1938. The sound of shattering glass gave the nefarious night its shameful name. Much like the Gestapo, St. Louis-area cops unlawfully terrorized and accosted innocent citizens. The parallel incidents, separated by 75 years and 6,000 miles, reverberated in Hedy's consciousness. But unlike then, when as a small child she was forced to endure the death of her father in Dachau, today she is fighting back. She has hired a lawyer and will demand justice in a St. Louis courtroom. Her protest itself was an act of defiance and hope. She is fighting against the same fascist tactics which devastated her childhood.

The "good" citizens of St. Louis have responded to Hedy's bravery by sending her hate mail. That's right, the same right-wing radicals who have donated half a million dollars to killer-cop Darren Wilson have filled her inbox with anti-Semitic rants and vile threats. To be fair, Hedy says she has also received notes of praise and encouragement. But it makes one wonder how, in 2014, so many decades after the Holocaust, there are still so many demented and depraved individuals running around in America, where they are free to spew hate and give violent vent to their uncontained rage.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

One of the most horrifying sidebars to the senseless murder of unarmed Ferguson teen Michael Brown is the money that has come pouring in, apparently from racist St. Louisans, to an all-purpose slush fund for Ferguson cop Darren Wilson. St. Louis television station KSDK reports that, as of today, the "Support Officer Darren Wilson" fund has raised a quarter of a million dollars. Moreover, according to KSDK reporter Lisa Zeigman, fund organizers are transferring the money to something called "Shield of Hope," an "authorized" charitable foundation, so that future donations will be tax deductible. Huh? It is one thing to contribute to a murderer's defense fund; it is quite another to make those contributions tax deductible. Can you imagine the outcry if the roles were reversed? If a black man had gunned down a white cop, the Tea Partiers would be gathering on the White House lawn with pitchforks and nooses should the government declare that contributions to the black man’s defense fund could be tax write-offs.

KSDK is also reporting that “all funds received will be donated to Officer Darren Wilson to cover potential legal fees, and relocation and living expenses of both Officer Wilson and his immediate family.” Not only do St. Louisans (and all other right-wing nutjob non-St. Louisans) have no objection to Wilson slaughtering a defenseless kid, they are making it profitable for the cop to have done so. It turns out that murdering African Americans can be a good career move for white St. Louis-area cops.

This should stun and stupefy you. But if you’re from St. Louis, you are probably not shocked at all. Having lived in the segregated neighborhoods of the St. Louis area all my life, I am quite familiar with the white-racist rage that simmers just beneath the area’s placid veneer. For decades it has been barely suppressed by a live-and-let-live attitude (as long as they don’t live by us). Now, though, it has exposed its ugly caped head in the most blatant way imaginable. What those who contribute to the killer cop’s bank account are really saying is this: “I don’t care if it’s murder; just send the message to the black community that we have the power of life-and-death over you, so stay in your place.”

Why would any rational person make out Wilson to be the aggrieved party in this case? What did he do to warrant this outpouring of community support? Do white, conservative St. Louisans automatically back the cops no matter what they do? Do they not have a social conscience? I wonder if donations would have accrued tenfold if Officer Wilson had machine-gunned an entire church full of African Americans. Maybe contributions would have soared into the millions. Apparently white cops can kill with impunity in St. Louis; it not only pleases the white citizenry, but it is a financially lucrative enterprise for the police.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

I am utterly convinced, and always will be, that JFK’s murder resulted from a massive conspiracy which involved the CIA, Lyndon Johnson, Texas oil billionaires, elements of the Mafia, and military personnel including some of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Some ridicule this notion, saying that such a plot involving these groups which, on the surface, seem to have little in common. It would have been an unwieldy proposition, say the cynics, made more difficult by the need for secrecy among and within these various groups.

My contention is, despite the incredulity of such a plot, it in fact happened that way because that is where the evidence leads. Over the years, as information leaked out, my position has been proven right. Now comes even more proof that the CIA, Texas oil and the Mafia colluded in other criminal activities.
In an August 2014 article in Mad Cow Press, writer Daniel Hopsicker reports that, “A six-year long investigation into the drug trafficking operation in St Petersburg Florida that was exposed when two planes were busted in the Yucatan carrying a total of 10 tons of cocaine revealed the planes had all been ‘parked,’ or ‘sheep-dipped,’ in the names of straw owners to conceal the CIA’s involvement.

“The composition of this group of straw owners, composed of a fascinating collection of people with often interlocking connections through various other enterprises, says a lot about the circles the CIA runs in. Among the few who lent their names to the registration of more than one of these CIA planes is the granddaughter of Texas oil tycoon H.L. Hunt, who back in the 1930’s was known as the richest man in America. Hunt’s other singular distinction is having been accused by Russian newspaper Pravda of being behind the JFK assassination.

“The investigation uncovered incontrovertible, if unsurprising, proof of involvement in the operation by the Mob (in this case, the Chicago Outfit) by Texas oil interests, Saudi financiers, and, of course, the CIA.”

Hopsicker goes on to explain how the CIA tries to hide evidence of its involvement in the drug trade by using “front” organizations to conceal ownership of “mule” planes:
“An almost-always accurate test for picking a sheep-dipped CIA plane out of a line-up: Check out the previous owners. Why? Because when the CIA needs a specific make of plane, they don’t thumb through the 'Planes for Sale' ads in Trade-A-Plane magazine.

"They find the needed plane among the Agency’s own vast inventory. (Remember: the CIA at one time fielded the largest airline on the planet.) Once they’ve found the plane they want, they will very often sell it back and forth a few times between a few of the Agencies’ thousands of off-the-shelf dummy front companies to throw anyone snooping around off the scent.”

The listed owner of one of the planes used in drug-trafficking ring based in St. Petersburg, Florida, turns out to be owned by Alinda Hill Wickert, granddaughter of H.L. Hunt. Who was H.L. Hunt? Only one of the richest men in the world from the mid-1930s until his death in 1974. An avowed JFK hater and right-wing extremist, he made his fortune in oil, and subsequently moved to Dallas where, it can be stated without exaggeration, he owned everything that moved—from the police force to the local politicians and everything in between. That included Lyndon Johnson, whose mistress once hear Hunt admit that he was “the richest man in the world” and could do any damn thing he wanted to do.

His hatred of Jack Kennedy dated back to the Democratic convention in Los Angles in 1960 where Kennedy beat Hunt’s candidate, LBJ, for the presidential nomination.

Hopsicker puts it this way: “In 1963, Dallas billionaire H.L. Hunt poured millions into a ceaseless anti-Kennedy radio campaign; it was the dawn of extremist radio in the nation. Hunt’s program, ‘Life Line,’ reached 10 million listeners a day with scorching attacks against Kennedy.

“Hunt also controlled a vast private intelligence network, that included the John Birch Society.

“Hunt’s son purchased a full-page ad in the Dallas newspaper the day JFK arrived, accusing the President of betraying the Constitution. A leaflet appeared all over town that accused JFK of treason.

“Immediately after the JFK assassination H. L. Hunt was rushed to the airport and taken out of the country by the FBI. Supposedly, they’d received notice of a plot to kill him. But instead of protective custody, they moved Hunt to a secret destination in Mexico.

“Lyndon Johnson’s former mistress, Madeleine Duncan Brown, told author Robert Gaylon Ross prior to her death in 2002 that Johnson was involved in the murder of JFK. The plot that had its origins in the 1960 Democratic Convention.”

Hopsicker has supplied a piece of the JFK assassination plot that heretofore has baffled investigators. How did such disparate and powerful groups collude? How could such a massive plot succeed when the participants seemed so unallied and wildly divergent. Well here’s how. The conspirators had two very strong motivations in common—they were accustomed to getting what they wanted (power and wealth) by any means necessary…even illegal means; and they hated JFK.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

In order to fully comprehend what’s going on in Ferguson, Missouri, right now, one must first grasp the geography, history and demographics of the greater St. Louis area. It is a quirky yet staid metropolitan area, with traditions and animosities that date back almost two centuries. It is my native home, so I know a thing or two about it. I was born and raised in St. Louis, and I have lived in the area my entire life, so I have an acute understanding of race, politics and law enforcement in St. Louis County. The region is segregated along racial lines and has been for as long as I have been alive. North St. Louis and most of North St. Louis County are inhabited by African-Americans, while the rest of the Missouri side of the metropolis is mainly white. In the 1950s and ‘60s I grew up in white South St. Louis County, an area which is still overwhelmingly white. There are some pockets of black residents on the near south side, but very few are allowed into the exclusively white conclaves of West County and St. Louis Hills. There are some notable exceptions, of course (University City comes to mind), but for the most part whites and blacks do not live in the same neighborhoods. On the east side of the Mississippi River it’s pretty much the same—East St. Louis is entirely black, while the rest of the Illinois suburbs are mostly white. In a region where racial lines are hard-and-fast, and the white suburban cops are known for their quick tempers and low tolerance levels, the killing of an unarmed black kid by a white cop was a tragedy waiting to happen. Hence the current mess in Ferguson, a predominantly black suburb patrolled by a predominantly white police force.

What’s worse, St. Louis County has now taken over the investigation, and it is being headed by a notoriously hard-nosed prosecutor named Bob McCulloch. McCulloch is a right-wing “law-and-order” middle-aged white guy who always sides with the cops in any disputed arrest or shooting. This is because McCulloch has a very large and nasty chip on his shoulder. His father, a St. Louis cop, was shot and killed in the line of duty by a black man. Subsequently, his convictions of African-Americans have been spectacularly disproportionate to the black/white population ratio of St. Louis County. Moreover, to my knowledge, in the entire time of McCulloch’s reign no St. Louis County cop has been indicted, convicted or suspended of any wrongdoing, large or small. This is some incredible record. And, I can assure you from personal experience, that it is NOT because St. Louis County cops are angelic, righteous, incorruptible, and unbiased enforcers of the law.

So be forewarned. The cop who killed Michael Brown is not going to be charged with murder in St. Louis County. Don’t be fooled by McCulloch’s public promises of a fair and honest investigation. He owns the coroner’s office and the medical examiner. He can twist the evidence any way he wants. He has the cops’ backs, and cops can do no wrong.

That explains the police thuggery we’ve seen in Ferguson. Citizens are being smoke-bombed and tear-gassed even when peacefully protesting. News reporters are being arrested and having their cameras smashed. Bystanders attempting to record police misconduct are being harassed. Like bullies who have been emboldened by years of official facilitation, the St. Louis County police do not feel constrained by the demands of decency, much less local statutes.

It’s a good thing the FBI and the Brown family are conducting their own independent investigations. Their discoveries will differ in significant ways from the St. Louis County investigation. Take it from someone who knows the terrain.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Earlier this summer in a Walmart parking lot in Florida, a 20-year-old man named Colt Thriemer shot to death 21-year-old Thomas Brown. The two had gotten into a fist fight just moments before, but Brown had, according to witnesses, walked away from the fight. Nevertheless, Thriemer pulled out a gun and shot Brown 10 times. Thriemer, citing Florida’s nefarious “Stand Your Ground Defense,” will face no charges. That’s right, local authorities refuse to prosecute Thriemer. So now it’s official, murder is legal in Florida. If you live there or travel there, beware. If someone does not like the way you look, or you make an off-hand comment to your neighbor, or you flip someone off in traffic, or someone objects to your politics, you may be legally shot to death. Hell, there doesn’t really have to be any reason at all…it’s a shoot-first-and-alibi-later state.

The dangerous precedent set in the George Zimmerman case now has prosecutors everywhere declining to put murderers on trial. In the Brown case, litigators openly admit they have no recourse under the law. “The Stand Your Ground statute makes no exception from the immunity because Brown may have been walking away from Thriemer at the time the deadly force was used,” a memo from the State Attorney’s office states. Think about that for a moment. If you get into a dispute with someone, and then you do the mature thing and simply walk away when it appears the other party might turn the dispute deadly, YOU ARE NOT PROTECTED BY THE LAW IN FLORIDA. Brown was shot in the back by Thriemer.

Here’s a scenario which once seemed like a Nazi Germany nightmare, but which can now actually legally occur in Florida: Your neighbor objects to the political sign (supporting a Democratic candidate) you’ve placed in your yard; he accosts you and destroys the sign. If you threaten to kick his ass for his outrageous actions, he can legally gun you down. In Florida even the provocateur can rightfully hide behind the “Stand Your Ground” statute.

I am writing a letter to Rick Scott, Florida’s Republican governor, to tell him I am never vacationing in his state again. The Sunshine State is now the Shotgun State; I’ll never visit Disney World again because Mickey might blast me for cutting in line.